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Richard Dobroň
Richard Dobroň

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You've Never Heard Of These 10 Bizarre Programming Languages

1. Whitespace

  • This program uses whitespace characters as syntax. This implies that only linefeeds, spaces as well as tabs have meanings. Unlike other programming languages, it ignores the non whitespace characters.
  • Wikipedia
  • Here’s an example of a “Hello, world!” in Whitespace:
Hello,[Space]world![Space][Space][Tab][Space][Space][Tab][Space][Space][Space][LF]
[Tab][LF][Space][Space]
[Space][Space][Space][Tab][Tab][Space][Space][Tab][Space][Tab][LF]
[Tab][LF][Space][Space]
[Space][Space][Space][Tab][Tab][Space][Tab][Tab][Space][Space][LF]
[Tab][LF][Space][Space]
[Space][Space][Space][Tab][Tab][Space][Tab][Tab][Space][Space][LF]
[Tab][LF][Space][Space]
[Space][Space][Space][Tab][Tab][Space][Tab][Tab][Tab][Tab][LF]
[Tab][LF][Space][Space]
[Space][Space][Space][Tab][Space][Tab][Tab][Space][Space][LF]
[Tab][LF][Space][Space]
[Space][Space][Space][Tab][Space][Space][Space][Space][Space][LF]
[Tab][LF][Space][Space]
[Space][Space][Space][Tab][Tab][Tab][Space][Tab][Tab][Tab][LF]
[Tab][LF][Space][Space]
[Space][Space][Space][Tab][Tab][Space][Tab][Tab][Tab][Tab][LF]
[Tab][LF][Space][Space]
[Space][Space][Space][Tab][Tab][Tab][Space][Space][Tab][Space][LF]
[Tab][LF][Space][Space]
[Space][Space][Space][Tab][Tab][Space][Tab][Tab][Space][Space][LF]
[Tab][LF][Space][Space]
[Space][Space][Space][Tab][Tab][Space][Space][Tab][Space][Space][LF]
[Tab][LF][Space][Space]
[LF][LF][LF]
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2. Ook!

  • Ook! is a programming language designed for orang-utans. Ook! is essentially isomorphic to the well-known esoteric language BrainF***, but has even fewer syntax elements.
    For a few examples of commands, check out this article.

  • Here’s the “Hello World” program written in Ook!:

Ook. Ook? Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook.
Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook! Ook? Ook? Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook.
Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook? Ook! Ook! Ook? Ook! Ook? Ook.
Ook! Ook. Ook. Ook? Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook.
Ook. Ook. Ook! Ook? Ook? Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook?
Ook! Ook! Ook? Ook! Ook? Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook! Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook.
Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook! Ook. Ook! Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook.
Ook. Ook. Ook! Ook. Ook. Ook? Ook. Ook? Ook. Ook? Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook.
Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook! Ook? Ook? Ook. Ook. Ook.
Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook? Ook! Ook! Ook? Ook! Ook? Ook. Ook! Ook.
Ook. Ook? Ook. Ook? Ook. Ook? Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook.
Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook! Ook? Ook? Ook. Ook. Ook.
Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook.
Ook. Ook? Ook! Ook! Ook? Ook! Ook? Ook. Ook! Ook! Ook! Ook! Ook! Ook! Ook! Ook.
Ook? Ook. Ook? Ook. Ook? Ook. Ook? Ook. Ook! Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook. Ook.
Ook! Ook. Ook! Ook! Ook! Ook! Ook! Ook! Ook! Ook! Ook! Ook! Ook! Ook! Ook! Ook.
Ook! Ook! Ook! Ook! Ook! Ook! Ook! Ook! Ook! Ook! Ook! Ook! Ook! Ook! Ook! Ook!
Ook! Ook. Ook. Ook? Ook. Ook? Ook. Ook. Ook! Ook.
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3. ArnoldC

  • Programming language based on the one-liners of Arnold Schwarzenegger.
  • Source code
  • The following program displays “Hello World”:
IT'S SHOWTIME
TALK TO THE HAND "Hello World"
YOU HAVE BEEN TERMINATED
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4. Shakespeare

  • Programming language and Shakespearean language should never meet, but that did not stop Jon Åslund and Karl Hasselström from creating the SPL (Shakespeare Programming Language). It makes the source code look like a script from one of the author’s plays, and the result looks something like this.
  • Wikipedia
  • The standard "Hello, World!" program:
Do Not Adieu, a play in two acts.

Romeo, a young man with a remarkable patience.
Juliet, a likewise young woman of remarkable grace.
Ophelia, a remarkable woman much in dispute with Hamlet.
Hamlet, the flatterer of Andersen Insulting A/S.


                    Act I: Hamlet's insults and flattery.

                    Scene I: The insulting of Romeo.

[Enter Hamlet and Romeo]

Hamlet:
 You lying stupid fatherless big smelly half-witted coward!
 You are as stupid as the difference between a handsome rich brave
 hero and thyself! Speak your mind!

 You are as brave as the sum of your fat little stuffed misused dusty
 old rotten codpiece and a beautiful fair warm peaceful sunny summer's
 day. You are as healthy as the difference between the sum of the
 sweetest reddest rose and my father and yourself! Speak your mind!

 You are as cowardly as the sum of yourself and the difference
 between a big mighty proud kingdom and a horse. Speak your mind.

 Speak your mind!

[Exit Romeo]

                    Scene II: The praising of Juliet.

[Enter Juliet]

Hamlet:
 Thou art as sweet as the sum of the sum of Romeo and his horse and his
 black cat! Speak thy mind!

[Exit Juliet]

                    Scene III: The praising of Ophelia.

[Enter Ophelia]

Hamlet:

 Thou art as beautiful as the difference between Romeo and the square
 of a huge green peaceful tree. Speak thy mind!

 Thou art as lovely as the product of a large rural town and my amazing
 bottomless embroidered purse. Speak thy mind!

 Thou art as loving as the product of the bluest clearest sweetest sky
 and the sum of a squirrel and a white horse. Thou art as beautiful as
 the difference between Juliet and thyself. Speak thy mind!

[Exeunt Ophelia and Hamlet]


                    Act II: Behind Hamlet's back.

                    Scene I: Romeo and Juliet's conversation.

[Enter Romeo and Juliet]

Romeo:
 Speak your mind. You are as worried as the sum of yourself and the
 difference between my small smooth hamster and my nose. Speak your
 mind!

Juliet:
 Speak YOUR mind! You are as bad as Hamlet! You are as small as the
 difference between the square of the difference between my little pony
 and your big hairy hound and the cube of your sorry little
 codpiece. Speak your mind!

[Exit Romeo]

                    Scene II: Juliet and Ophelia's conversation.

[Enter Ophelia]

Juliet:
 Thou art as good as the quotient between Romeo and the sum of a small
 furry animal and a leech. Speak your mind!

Ophelia:
 Thou art as disgusting as the quotient between Romeo and twice the
 difference between a mistletoe and an oozing infected blister! Speak
 your mind!

[Exeunt]
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5. Velato

  • Velato is a programming language, created by Daniel Temkin in 2009, which uses MIDI files as source code: the pattern of notes determines commands. Velato offers an unusual challenge to programmer-musicians: to compose a musical piece that, in addition to expressing their aims musically, fills the constraints necessary to compile to a working Velato program. Each song has a secret message: the program it determines when compiled as Velato.
  • The following program displays “Hello World!”:
\version "2.19.64"

\header{
  title = "Hello, World!"
}

\language "english"

\paper {
  top-margin = 1.5\in
  left-margin = 2.0\in
  right-margin = 2.0\in
}

\score {
  \transpose c c' {
    % H
    <c a>4
    g8
    e8 f8
    gs8 d8
    g8 |

    % e
    a8
    <g e>4.
    <f cs>4
    c16 cs16
    g8 |

    % l
    a8
    <g e>8
    <f cs>4
    <c a>4
    g4 |

    % l
    a16 g16
    e16 f8
    cs8. <c a g>2 |

    % o
    a8 g8 e8
    f8.
    cs16 cs8 cs8 g8 |

    % ,
    a8 g4
    e8 f8
    e e
    g8 |

    % space
    a8
    <g e>4.
    f8
    ds d
    g8 |

    % W
    a8 g4
    e8 f8
    a8 gs8
    g8 |

    % o
    a8 g8
    e8 f8
    cs8 cs8 <cs g>4 |

    % r
    a8 g8
    e8 f8
    cs8 cs8 e8. g16 |

    % l
    c16 a16
    <g e>8
    <f cs>4
    <c a>4
    g4 |

    % d
    a8 g4
    e16 f16
    cs8 c8 c8
    g8 |

    % !
    a16
    <g e>4
    f16 ds16 ds16
    <g c>2 |
  }
  \layout {
    indent = 0\cm
  }
  \midi {
    \tempo 4 = 120
  }
}
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6. Brainfuck

  • This language has inspired many other bizarre computer languages. It was created in 1993 by Urban Miller. He designed this language with smallest possible complier, which is even less than 200 bytes. It uses just eight commands to run a program, however the sequence of commands requires to run the program is simply too much and is not practical for normal use.
  • Wikipedia

The following program prints “Hello World!” and a newline to the screen:

++++++++[>++++[>++>+++>+++>+<<<<-]>+>+>->>+[<]<-]>>.>---.+++++++..+++.>>.<-.<.+++.------.--------.>>+.>++.
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7. Malbolge

  • Malbolge is a public domain esoteric programming language invented by Ben Olmstead in 1998, named after the eighth circle of hell in Dante's Inferno, the Malebolge.
  • Wikipedia
  • The following program prints “Hello World”:
(=<`#9]~6ZY32Vx/4Rs+0No-&Jk)"Fh}|Bcy?`=*z]Kw%oG4UUS0/@-ejc(:'8d
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8. Chicken

  • Chicken is an esoteric programming language by Torbjörn Söderstedt, in which "chicken" is the only valid symbol.
  • Here’s the “Hello World” program written in Chicken.
chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken
chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken
chicken chicken chicken chicken
chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken
chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken
chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken
chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken
chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken
chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken
chicken chicken chicken chicken
chicken chicken chicken
chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken
chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken
chicken chicken chicken
chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken
chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken
chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken
chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken
chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken
chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken

chicken chicken chicken
chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken
chicken chicken chicken chicken
chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken
chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken
chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken
chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken
chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken
chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken
chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken

chicken chicken chicken chicken
chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken
chicken chicken
chicken chicken
chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken
chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken
chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken

chicken chicken
chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken
chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken
chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken
chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken

chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken
chicken chicken chicken
chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken
chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken
chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken
chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken

chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken
chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken
chicken chicken chicken
chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken
chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken
chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken
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9. LOLcode

  • LOLcode is an esoteric programming language inspired by lolspeak, the language expressed in examples of the lolcat Internet meme. The language was created in 2007 by Adam Lindsay, researcher at the Computing Department of Lancaster University.
  • Wikipedia
  • Here’s the “Hello World” program written in LOLcode:
HAI 1.2
CAN HAS STDIO?
VISIBLE "Hello World"
KTHXBYE
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10. JSFuck

  • Developed by Martin Kleppe, JSFuck is an esoteric programming style of JavaScript. where code is written using a very limited set of characters: (,), [, ], + and !.The challenge in JSFuck lies in recreating the full set of JavaScript functions using only these six characters, which is made possible by two properties of JavaScript:
  1. It is a weakly typed programming language
  2. It allows the evaluation of any expression as any type.
  • Source code

  • JSFuck code is extremely "verbose": In JavaScript, the code alert("Hello World!"), which causes a pop-up window to open with the text "Hello world", is 21 characters long. In JSFuck, the same code has a length of 3344 characters:

[][(![]+[])[+!![]]+(!![]+[])[+[]]][([]+[][(![]+[])[+!![]]+(!![]+[])[+[]]])[!![]+!![]+!![]]+(!![]+[][(![]+[])[+!![]]+(!![]+[])[+[]]])[+!![]+[+[]]]+([][[]]+[])[+!![]]+(![]+[])[!![]+!![]+!![]]+(!![]+[])[+[]]+(!![]+[])[+!![]]+([][[]]+[])[+[]]+([]+[][(![]+[])[+!![]]+(!![]+[])[+[]]])[!![]+!![]+!![]]+(!![]+[])[+[]]+(!![]+[][(![]+[])[+!![]]+(!![]+[])[+[]]])[+!![]+[+[]]]+(!![]+[])[+!![]]]((!![]+[])[+!![]]+(!![]+[])[!![]+!![]+!![]]+(!![]+[])[+[]]+([][[]]+[])[+[]]+(!![]+[])[+!![]]+([][[]]+[])[+!![]]+(+[![]]+[][(![]+[])[+!![]]+(!![]+[])[+[]]])[+!![]+[+!![]]]+(![]+[])[+!![]]+(![]+[])[!![]+!![]]+(!![]+[])[!![]+!![]+!![]]+(!![]+[])[+!![]]+(!![]+[])[+[]])()([][(![]+[])[+!![]]+(!![]+[])[+[]]][([]+[][(![]+[])[+!![]]+(!![]+[])[+[]]])[!![]+!![]+!![]]+(!![]+[][(![]+[])[+!![]]+(!![]+[])[+[]]])[+!![]+[+[]]]+([][[]]+[])[+!![]]+(![]+[])[!![]+!![]+!![]]+(!![]+[])[+[]]+(!![]+[])[+!![]]+([][[]]+[])[+[]]+([]+[][(![]+[])[+!![]]+(!![]+[])[+[]]])[!![]+!![]+!![]]+(!![]+[])[+[]]+(!![]+[][(![]+[])[+!![]]+(!![]+[])[+[]]])[+!![]+[+[]]]+(!![]+[])[+!![]]]((!![]+[])[+!![]]+(!![]+[])[!![]+!![]+!![]]+(!![]+[])[+[]]+([][[]]+[])[+[]]+(!![]+[])[+!![]]+([][[]]+[])[+!![]]+(+[![]]+[][(![]+[])[+!![]]+(!![]+[])[+[]]])[+!![]+[+!![]]]+([]+[][(!![]+[])[!![]+!![]+!![]]+([][[]]+[])[+!![]]+(!![]+[])[+[]]+(!![]+[])[+!![]]+([![]]+[][[]])[+!![]+[+[]]]+(!![]+[])[!![]+!![]+!![]]+(![]+[])[!![]+!![]+!![]]]())[!![]+!![]]+(!![]+[])[+[]]+(!![]+[][(![]+[])[+!![]]+(!![]+[])[+[]]])[+!![]+[+[]]]+(![]+[])[+!![]])()(!![])[+!![]]+(!![]+[])[!![]+!![]+!![]]+(![]+[])[!![]+!![]]+(![]+[])[!![]+!![]]+(!![]+[][(![]+[])[+!![]]+(!![]+[])[+[]]])[+!![]+[+[]]]+(+[![]]+[][(![]+[])[+!![]]+(!![]+[])[+[]]])[+!![]+[+!![]]]+(+[![]]+[][(![]+[])[+!![]]+(!![]+[])[+[]]][([]+[][(![]+[])[+!![]]+(!![]+[])[+[]]])[!![]+!![]+!![]]+(!![]+[][(![]+[])[+!![]]+(!![]+[])[+[]]])[+!![]+[+[]]]+([][[]]+[])[+!![]]+(![]+[])[!![]+!![]+!![]]+(!![]+[])[+[]]+(!![]+[])[+!![]]+([][[]]+[])[+[]]+([]+[][(![]+[])[+!![]]+(!![]+[])[+[]]])[!![]+!![]+!![]]+(!![]+[])[+[]]+(!![]+[][(![]+[])[+!![]]+(!![]+[])[+[]]])[+!![]+[+[]]]+(!![]+[])[+!![]]]((!![]+[])[+!![]]+(!![]+[])[!![]+!![]+!![]]+(!![]+[])[+[]]+([][[]]+[])[+[]]+(!![]+[])[+!![]]+([][[]]+[])[+!![]]+(+[![]]+[][(![]+[])[+!![]]+(!![]+[])[+[]]])[+!![]+[+!![]]]+(![]+[])[!![]+!![]+!![]]+(!![]+[])[!![]+!![]+!![]]+(![]+[])[!![]+!![]]+(![]+[])[+[]])())[+!![]+[+!![]]]+(!![]+[][(![]+[])[+!![]]+(!![]+[])[+[]]])[+!![]+[+[]]]+(!![]+[])[+!![]]+(![]+[])[!![]+!![]]+([][[]]+[])[!![]+!![]]+[][(![]+[])[+!![]]+(!![]+[])[+[]]][([]+[][(![]+[])[+!![]]+(!![]+[])[+[]]])[!![]+!![]+!![]]+(!![]+[][(![]+[])[+!![]]+(!![]+[])[+[]]])[+!![]+[+[]]]+([][[]]+[])[+!![]]+(![]+[])[!![]+!![]+!![]]+(!![]+[])[+[]]+(!![]+[])[+!![]]+([][[]]+[])[+[]]+([]+[][(![]+[])[+!![]]+(!![]+[])[+[]]])[!![]+!![]+!![]]+(!![]+[])[+[]]+(!![]+[][(![]+[])[+!![]]+(!![]+[])[+[]]])[+!![]+[+[]]]+(!![]+[])[+!![]]]((!![]+[])[+!![]]+(!![]+[])[!![]+!![]+!![]]+(!![]+[])[+[]]+([][[]]+[])[+[]]+(!![]+[])[+!![]]+([][[]]+[])[+!![]]+(+[![]]+[][(![]+[])[+!![]]+(!![]+[])[+[]]])[+!![]+[+!![]]]+(![]+[])[+!![]]+(!![]+[])[+[]]+(!![]+[][(![]+[])[+!![]]+(!![]+[])[+[]]])[+!![]+[+[]]]+([]+[][(!![]+[])[!![]+!![]+!![]]+([][[]]+[])[+!![]]+(!![]+[])[+[]]+(!![]+[])[+!![]]+([![]]+[][[]])[+!![]+[+[]]]+(!![]+[])[!![]+!![]+!![]]+(![]+[])[!![]+!![]+!![]]]())[!![]+!![]])()((+(+!![]+(!![]+[])[!![]+!![]+!![]]+(+!![])+(+[])+(+[])+(+[]))+[])[+[]]+![])[+[]])
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